Supporting Mental Health Initiatives in the Ithaca Community

Resources

The Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service (SPCS) promotes constructive responses to crisis and trauma, and works to prevent violence to self and others through direct support and community education. SPCS is a regional member of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

“Are you upset, confused, depressed, lonely, hurt, angry, scared, suicidal, worried about someone else, or so overwhelmed that you don’t know what to do? Calling for help when you are in emotional pain is smart. We don’t give advice, judge, or try to fix you. We are here to listen, support, and guide you towards finding your own solution.”

After-Trauma Services can help you cope with the stress of these sudden life events. Trauma is an emotional response to challenging and unexpected events that can cause a great deal of stress, upset everyday routine and interfere with your ability to function.

An online resource for the Cornell community about sexual harassment, assault, gender discrimination, and other related forms of violence. It offers information about services, support, reporting options, education, and advocacy. Guide to Reporting Sexual Assault at Cornell.

Cornell Minds Matter promotes the overall mental and emotional health of Cornell students, works to reduce the stigma of mental illness, and holds events open to the Cornell community that foster a healthy, balanced lifestyle.

Reflect at Cornell is dedicated to de-stigmatizing care for mental health and improving the mental health of students by providing them a safe forum to engage in open and honest discussion. Reflect’s motto—”Be open. Be real. Speak your mind.”—encourages students to speak their true thoughts and be their true selves, not what they think others want them to say or be. Cornell Reflect holds monthly meetings over dinner to stimulate discussions about topics such as “Stress and Pressure,” “Balancing College and Life,” “Relationships,” and more.

Ithaca College’s Office of Counseling and Wellness offers professional relationships and support services that empower diverse individuals and groups to achieve mental health, wellness and educational goals.

An online resource for the Ithaca College community about sexual harassment, assault, gender discrimination, and other related forms of violence. It offers information about services, support, reporting options, education, and advocacy. Guide to Reporting Sexual Assault at Ithaca College.

Active Minds is a national organization with student-run chapters on college campuses across the country that raises awareness of mental health issues, provides information and resources regarding mental health and mental illness, and encourages students to seek help as soon as it is needed.

Active Minds is a national organization with student-run chapters on college campuses across the country that raises awareness of mental health issues, provides information and resources regarding mental health and mental illness, and encourages students to seek help as soon as it is needed.

Family and Children’s Service of Ithaca supports, promotes and strengthens the well-being of individuals and families by providing high-quality, accessible mental health care and related social services, with a particular sensitivity toward the needs of children.

The Student Counseling Services of the Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca is committed to helping students meet the challenges of life during college, graduate and professional school by encouraging healthy personal choices and balanced perspectives. We maintain strong working relationships with Counseling and Psychological Services at Cornell University as well as Ithaca College’s Office of Counseling and Wellness.

Tompkins County Mental Health Department provides assessment, counseling, treatment, and crisis services to adults, children and families with mental health impairments. Its Children and Youth Program is a state-licensed outpatient treatment program for children with mental health problems. Services include psychiatric evaluation / assessment, psychological evaluation, social / family / home evaluation, behavior evaluation, medical assessments and alcohol and substance abuse screening.

Emergency Outreach Service (607) 274 6230

Tompkins County Emergency outreach is provided during the business week to individuals and families who have mental health needs that have become a crisis.

The Tompkins County Youth Services Department is charged with providing communities the support they need for their young people to have the opportunity to thrive. This is done through the support of resources for community organizations, businesses, families, and local municipalities. We provide training opportunities, funding, programming support, monitoring, technical assistance, community resource listings, advocacy for youth and education.

The Ithaca Youth Bureau is a public multi-service agency established 1948 providing a broad variety of recreation and youth development programs to promote the health, happiness, and well-being of all youth and families in the greater Ithaca area. Its programs include after-school programs, academic support, job and skill training, lessons, sports leagues, summer camps, and theater workshops.

MHATC works to empower individuals, families, and groups through advocacy and the provision of services which promote mental health, and educating and information to the general public about mental health issues. Its program areas include: Adult Advocacy, Family Support Services, Peer Support, and Community Education. MHATC is an affiliate of Mental Health America.

The Ithaca Health Alliance facilitates access to health care for all, with a focus on the needs of the uninsured. It runs a free health clinic in downtown Ithaca, provides financial assistance in meeting the costs of health care, and organizes free educational programming for the general public.

NAMI-Finger Lakes is an independent local organization (known as FLAMI, or the Finger Lakes Alliance for the Mentally Ill), that provides support for families, relatives, and friends of people diagnosed with major mental illnesses, educates the public about serious mental illnesses, and advocates for the families as well as their ill family members.

Local branch of the national organization AFSP’s mission is to save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide. Its five core strategies include funding scientific research; offering educational programs for professionals; educating the public about mood disorders and suicide prevention; promoting policies and legislation that impact suicide and prevention; providing programs and resources for survivors of suicide loss and people at risk.

The Human Services Coalition provides the non-profit sector with services and programs. Through collaborative planning, advocacy, information sharing, and direct public service, the coalition works to ensure that the health and human services sector is strong, well-informed, fiscally secure, well governed, and managed.

The Health Planning Council is a program of the Human Services Coalition that conducts community health planning, promotes the development of needed health services and resources, increases access to health care services, and encourages the integration of the various components into a functioning system.

Franziska Racker Centers is a voluntary not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating opportunities for people with special needs. Its mission is to support people with disabilities and their families to lead fulfilling lives by providing opportunities to learn and be connected with others.

The council is a private, non-profit agency which provides information, education, counseling and referral services for area residents and organizations. It views addiction as a progressive, treatable disease with recognizable symptoms. By providing prevention, education and counseling services to individuals and families, the council strives to provide people with the support necessary for sobriety and good health.

OMH governs a large, multi-faceted mental health system that serves more than 700,000 individuals each year. It operates psychiatric centers, and regulates, certifies and oversees more than 4,500 programs, which are operated by local governments and nonprofit agencies. These programs include various inpatient and outpatient programs, emergency, community support, residential and family care programs.

OMH’s Suicide Prevention Office works with stakeholders at all levels of government and every community in the state to prevent suicide and reduce the state’s suicide rate. Its website is a resource about data, research, training, events, and support.

SPCNY is an education and resource organization funded by OMH. It is NOT a crisis hotline and does not provide direct services. SPCNY offers educational events and training to raise awareness, commitment to action, and elevated skills. Its staff are certified to provide QPR and SafeTALK suicide alertness trainings, and ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training). SPCNY is connected to a network of skilled, certified trainers covering the full range of issues related to suicide in New York State. The center provides best-practice recommendations to support schools, and support for community coalitions.

The NYS Center for School Safety provides professional development and technical assistance to school and district administrators, staff, students, parents, community members and Boards of Cooperative Education in creating and maintaining safe and healthy learning environments for all New York State students. The assistance is intended to create healthy school environments and prevent violence, bullying, and crime that affects schools and communities. The center provides resources related to the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA), which strives to provide public elementary and secondary school students with a safe and supportive environment free from discrimination, intimidation, taunting, harassment, and bullying on school property, a school bus, and/or at a school function.

Mental Health America is a non-profit organization that provides mental health advocacy, education and services to a specific service area, such as a state, county or metropolitan area. Affiliates bring together mental health consumers, parents, advocates and service providers for collaboration and action to inform, support and enable mental wellness, and emphasize recovery from mental illness. It is guided by the Before Stage 4 philosophy that mental health conditions should be treated long before they reach the most critical points in the disease process.

The Child Mind Institute is an independent, national nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families struggling with mental health and learning disorders. Its teams work to deliver the highest standards of care, advance the science of the developing brain, and empower parents, professionals, and policymakers to support children when and where they need it most.

AFSP’s mission is to save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide. Its five core strategies include funding scientific research; offering educational programs for professionals; educating the public about mood disorders and suicide prevention; promoting policies and legislation that impact suicide and prevention; providing programs and resources for survivors of suicide loss and people at risk.

The 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention, a joint effort by the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, is a call to action to guide suicide prevention actions in the United States. The strategy emphasizes the role every American can play in protecting their friends, family members, and colleagues from suicide, and provides guidance for schools, businesses, health systems, clinicians, and many other sectors that takes into account advancements in the field

The Action Alliance is a public-private partnership working to advance the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention by championing suicide prevention as a national priority; catalyzing efforts to implement the National Strategy’s high priority objectives; and cultivating the resources needed to sustain progress.

The Jed Foundation’s mission is to protect emotional health and prevent suicide among college and university students. The organization collaborates with the public and leaders in higher education, mental health, and research to produce. It advances initiatives that promote awareness and understanding that emotional well-being is achievable, mental illness is treatable and suicide is preventable; increase knowledge of the warning signs of suicide & emotional distress; foster help-seeking so that those who need supportive services reach out to secure them, or are referred to services by a peer; build and strengthen resilience, coping skills and connectedness among young adults, their peers, families and communities; facilitate adoption of a comprehensive, community-based approach to promote emotional health and protect at-risk students on campus; and raise the importance of mental health services, policies and programs in the college selection process of students and parents.

SAVE’s work is based on the foundation and belief that suicide is preventable and everyone has a role to play in preventing suicide. SAVE works at the international, national, state and local levels to prevent suicide using a public health model in suicide prevention; concentrating its efforts on education and awareness.

Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide is an information and training resource for community and professional organizations, educators, and parents. SPTS’s aim is to reduce the number of youth suicides and attempted suicides by encouraging public awareness through the development and promotion of educational training programs.

The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people ages 13-24.

The Steve Fund is the nation’s only organization focused on supporting the mental health and emotional well-being of college students of color. It works with colleges and universities, outstanding non-profits, researchers, practitioners, and with groups serving diverse populations to stimulate dialogue and promote effective programs and strategies that build understanding and assistance for the mental and emotional health of the nation’s students of color as they enter, matriculate in, and transition from higher education.

StopBullying.gov provides information from various government agencies on what bullying is, what cyberbullying is, who is at risk, and how you can prevent and respond to bullying. Managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Tyler Clementi Foundation’s mission is to end online and offline bullying in schools, workplaces and faith communities. Its website contains resources for elementary schools, middle and high schools, colleges and universities, for university Greek systems, and for workplace and faith communities.

The American Association of Suicidology promotes the understanding and prevention of suicide and supports those who have been affected by it. It seeks to foster the highest possible quality of suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention and to encourage the development and application of strategies that reduce the incidence and prevalence of suicidal behaviors.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is committed to improving crisis services and advancing suicide prevention by empowering individuals, advancing professional best practices, and building awareness.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. SAMHSA’s mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities.

Active Minds is a national organization with student-run chapters on college campuses across the country that raises awareness of mental health issues, provides information and resources regarding mental health and mental illness, and encourages students to seek help as soon as it is needed.

The Reflect Organization is dedicated to de-stigmatizing care for mental health and improving the mental health of students by providing them a safe forum to engage in open and honest discussion. Reflect’s motto—”Be open. Be real. Speak your mind.”—encourages students to speak their true thoughts and be their true selves, not what they think others want them to say or be.

The American College Health Association is dedicated to the health needs of students at colleges and universities. It is the principal leadership organization for advancing the health of college students and campus communities through advocacy, education, and research.

BC2M was established by actor Glenn Close and her family to “start the conversation about mental health, and to raise awareness, understanding, and empathy.” BC2M develops public service announcements, pilots evidence-based programs at the university (UBC2M) and high school (LETS BC2M) levels engaging students to reduce stigma and discrimination, and is creating a social movement around change by providing people with platforms to share, connect, and learn.

The CDC is the U.S. government’s health protection agency. It’s suicide prevention policy: “The goals of suicide prevention is simple—reduce factors that increase risk and increase factors that promote resilience or coping. With a public health approach, prevention occurs at all levels of society—from the individual, family, and community levels to the broader social environment. Effective prevention strategies are needed to promote awareness of suicide while also promoting prevention, resilience, and a commitment to social change.”

The foundation works to prevent suicide using innovative methods to address root causes of suicide in schools, homes, and businesses. The foundation also assists those coping with the pain and grief resulting from the death by suicide of their family, friends, or co-workers.

Fountain House believes that that people with serious mental illness will live and thrive in society. It improves the lives of people living with serious mental illness by operating community mental health programs in New York City; developing innovative programs, research, and shared knowledge about recovery from mental illness; collaborating with others to inspire and teach organizations around the world to use the Fountain House model; and advocating for people living with serious mental illness to improve perceptions and practices.

CCMH is a multidisciplinary, member-driven, Practice-Research-Network focused on providing accurate and up-to-date information on the mental health of today’s college students. CCMH strives to connect practice, research, and technology to benefit students, mental health providers, administrators, researchers, and the public. The collaborative efforts of more than 400 college and university counseling centers and supportive organizations have enabled CCMH to build one of the nation’s largest databases on college student mental health. CCMH actively develops clinical tools, reports, and research using this data.

RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, operates sexual assault hotlines and chatlines, and carries out programs to prevent sexual violence, help victims, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.

The Bazelon Center’s mission is to protect and advance the rights of adults and children who have mental disabilities. It pursues a progressive mental health policy agenda to reform systems and programs to protect the rights of children and adults with mental disabilities to lead lives with dignity in the community. Policy staff promote these goals in federal legislation and regulation, policy analysis and research, and technical assistance to state and local advocates.

The mission of the Office on Violence Against Women is to provide federal leadership in developing the national capacity to reduce violence against women and administer justice for and strengthen services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

IASP is the largest international organization dedicated to suicide prevention and to the alleviation of the effects of suicide. It has members in more than 50 countries and is working in official relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO). It sponsors the annual World Suicide Prevention Day.

Heads Together is a campaign launched in May 2016 led by Britain’s Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry aimed at changing the conversation around mental health. It partners with British charities in tackling stigma, raising awareness, and providing vital help for people with mental health challenges.

The Mighty is an safe online platform creating a community for people facing serious health conditions, by publishing real stories by real people with real challenges, connecting people, and raising support for the causes they believe in. The Mighty exists to fight the isolation that can come with a disability or a disease, in the belief that “we are stronger when we face adversity together.”

The Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide were developed by leading experts in suicide prevention and in collaboration with several international suicide prevention and public health organizations, schools of journalism, media organizations and key journalists as well as Internet safety experts. The recommendations are based on more than 50 international studies on suicide contagion.

Recommendations developed by Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE) with the guidance and expertise of an international advisory panel of experts and bloggers. Suicide is an important public health issue, and those who blog on the topic share diverse perspectives, backgrounds and experiences that can help those who are struggling. It is important to note that readers’ attitudes and behaviors can be influenced by what and how bloggers write about suicide, mental health, crisis, and suicidal ideation—both negatively and positively. The recommendations are meant to assist bloggers in blogging about suicide safely, and ultimately maximize the effectiveness of the communicators’ efforts and reduce the risk of harmful effects of unsafe messaging on suicide.